Christmas and New Year have come and gone and, once again, a busy year ahead no doubt awaits us all. Some of you will have hiking expeditions planned, others may be travelling to far flung destinations in pursuit of the unknown. Athletes will be running long trails over mountains, unsupported by comfortable aid stations conveniently placed along the route. Pilots will continue to fly in hostile, unforgiving terrain where lack of even the most basic survival knowledge could mean the difference between life and death.

Wherever your career, sport or hobby takes you to in this coming year, we will be offering a course to prepare you both mentally and physically for the hardships that potentially lie ahead. Survival skills are indeed one area in life where a little knowledge can take you a long way. Over the next 12 months we will be training the following: school expeditions; sportsmen who run, cycle and paddle their way through the toughest terrain; pilots who plan to fly in the most extreme regions of the planet; ordinary citizens who feel a simple but deep-seated respect for their environment.

As part of our preparation for these courses, we will be publishing a series of articles on the four basic principles of survival: Protection, Location, Water and Food. But the cord that threads all four tenets so tightly and effectively is Fire, so to kick us off for the year ahead is an article by our resident expert on the subject.

Sorry! This content is restricted to site members. If you are an existing user, please login. New users may register below.